When God Feels Distant
SERMON SERIES: WHEN GOD FEELS DISTANT
Does God feel distant at times? Do you sometimes feel sluggish in your desire to have a growing relationship with God? The Christian journey is often a series of ups and downs. Rather than a lethargic approach towards our Christian walk, we must have a passion to build a growing relationship with God. Join us during this five-week series as we uncover Biblical and practical ways to draw near to God and learn about God’s spectacular promise to draw near to us.
Our theme passage: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” —James 4:7-10 (NIV)
WEEKEND REFLECTIONS (Nov. 27th/28th)
“Pray without ceasing…” —1 Thessalonians 5:17
For the believer, prayer is often a natural first reaction that takes over when we feel overwhelmed or stressed by our circumstances. In the face of adversity or crisis, we have no problem turning to God in prayer.
But what about that situation that never seems to change or improve? That prayer that God doesn’t seem to answer? How long are we supposed to pray about our bad financial situation? For our unbelieving spouse? For the child that has drifted away? How long are we supposed to take our petition to God? Does He even hear them? Let’s be honest, what many of us struggle with is the need for persistent prayer.
It’s true that sometimes the answers to prayer seem slow in coming. Still, that should not deter us from taking our requests to God. In his message today, Pastor Sherwood shared a biblical example of why we should “always pray and not give up.”
In Luke 18:1-8, we find the parable of the persistent widow (at the time, widows and orphans were among the most needy and the apostles in the new church insisted that they be cared for). This widow kept coming in front of an uncaring judge insisting that he give her justice and he refused her time after time. Though the judge did not “fear God or care about men” he eventually gave in and granted her request so she wouldn’t “eventually wear him out with her coming.” We don’t know exactly how many times she went before the judge, but we know it was enough times that he finally responded to her out of sheer exhaustion.
So is that what we are supposed to do—spend day after day crying out to God over our situation? The notes in the Life Application Bible explain it like this: “To persist in prayer and not give up does not mean endless repetition or painfully long prayer sessions. Always praying means keeping our requests constantly before God as we live for Him day by day, believing He will answer. When we live by faith, we are not to give up. God may delay answering, but His delays have good reasons. As we persist in prayer, we grow in character, faith and hope.”
Yes. No. Wait.
All three are answers to prayer. We all like the first one, the yes. We love it when God responds positively to our petitions right? Still, there are three answers and while the other two may not be our favorite answers, there is a benefit to them. Pastor Sherwood reminded us in his message that God draws us closer to Him through delay (wait) and denial (no). It may not seem like it, but God IS working. He is working in us and through us and around us while we wait. The key is for us not to wait passively, but to draw closer to Him and grow stronger in our faith and confidence in Him and bend our will toward His.
“Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that He has promised.” —Hebrews 10:36
What “answered” prayer is drawing you closer to God? What are you doing to strengthen your faith while you wait on Him?
WEEKEND REFLECTIONS (Nov. 6th/7th)
Someone once said, “The hardest thing about the Christian life is that it is SO daily.”
Isn’t that the truth? If we claim to be a Christian, a Christ-follower then every day we have to make the decision to follow Jesus’ example when it comes to our relationships. Our speech. Our work. Our commitments. Everything.
In his message, Pastor Gabe Garcia reminded us that every decision, every choice we make is an opportunity to honor God with our obedience or to dishonor Him by choosing to disobey His Word. And it is a choice.
Romans 6:16 says: “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” (NLT)
In 1 Samuel 15, King Saul is given specific instructions by God to completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation including the animals, but Saul and his men chose to spare the king’s life and keep the best animals. When confronted by the prophet Samuel, Saul tried to justify his disobedience by saying he planned to sacrifice the animals to the Lord. Samuel replied, “Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.” God isn’t interested in our excuses or justifications or partial obedience. He wants our total obedience to His Word.
What if the next time you were faced with a difficult choice or situation, you made the intentional decision to honor God with your choice and to be a slave to righteousness, a slave to His right-way of living? What if you made the intentional decision to honor God even if it meant you had to do the hard thing like end that unhealthy relationship? Or walk away from that job or promotion you have been waiting for? Or follow through with that commitment that has now become inconvenient?
The Word says you become the slave of whatever (or whomever) you choose to obey—and it’s a daily choice. Who are you going to obey?
Pastor Gabe said, “You can’t expect to grow closer to God if you don’t obey God.” What is getting in the way of your obedience to God and ultimately a closer relationship with Him? What are you going to do about it?
WEEKEND REFLECTIONS (Oct. 29th/30th)
This weekend we began a new sermon series at BOSS, “When God Feels Distant: Pursuing Him At All Times and At All Costs.” Our theme Scripture is James 4:7-10. Take a look at the passage in the Amplified Bible:
“So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you. Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery]. [As you draw near to God] be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep [over your disloyalty]. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame [for your sins]. Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant]. “
It’s pretty clear in this passage what God is asking us to do to draw close to Him:
1. Be subject to God
2. Resist the devil
3. Come close to God
4. Get your soiled hands clean
5. Purify your hearts
6. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord
In his message, Sherwood called James 4:7-10 a “recipe” for drawing close to God when He feels far from us. God doesn’t move or push us away. It’s our sin, our disobedience that causes us to move away from Him. The Amplified passage makes it clear that the responsibility falls on us to come close to Him. (Recognize that you are sinners; realize that you have been disloyal; be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep over your disloyalty; feel very insignificant in His presence, etc.). When we drift away from God and the things of God, He doesn’t give up on us. He waits patiently on us to come back, to come close to Him. He provided the way when He sent Jesus to die for our sins. He’s done His part and is waiting on us to do ours. It’s up to us to accept His terms:
1. Be subject to God
2. Resist the devil
3. Come close to God
4. Get your soiled hands clean
5. Purify your hearts
6. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord
Easier said than done, right? Maybe at first, but it will get easier as we take the intentional steps to live it out each day. The reward? The reward is great: “…He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant].” Are you up to the challenge? What are you going to do to draw closer to God?
Which one of these instructions from God is most challenging to you and why?
